Hospitals in bundled payment initiatives steering patients away from SNFs: study
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 07, 2018
Hospitals participating in bundled payment efforts are actively reducing the use of skilled nursing care in their respective areas. That’s one of the key takeaways from a new study out of the University...
Can nursing home forbid workers from speaking Spanish on duty? Employees say ‘no’
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 07, 2018
A handful of Spanish-speaking employees is fighting back, after the Pennsylvania nursing home that employs them told workers they could not use their lengua materna (native tongue) on the job, even during...
CMS updates providers on changes coming down the pipeline soon
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 06, 2018
Staffing data for Payroll-Based Journal must be submitted by August 14, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials reminded providers last week.
Medicare Part D premiums down, CMS says, as administration aims to curtail swelling drug costs
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 02, 2018
Premiums for nursing home residents’ prescription drug plans have dipped for the second year in a row, in what the administration hopes is a sign that efforts to curb prescription costs might be...
Exploding hospice industry vulnerable to fraud, OIG says
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 01, 2018
The hospice care industry has ballooned in interest over recent years. But at the same time, nursing home residents and others receiving such care are often subject to improper care and fraudulent billing,...
Retro payments from provider not good enough, NLRB says, after nursing home suspended merit-based pay
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 01, 2018
The National Labor Relations Board is hitting a nursing home operator for “unlawfully” suspending a merit-based raise program.
CMS grants skilled nursing $820 million raise in final payment rule
By
Marty Stempniak
Aug 01, 2018
As anticipated, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its final rule for paying skilled nursing providers on Tuesday. Providers will see an $820 million raise for fiscal 2019, which begins...
Providers’ challenge: Capitalizing on a growing but reluctant elderly Latino population
By
Marty Stempniak
Jul 31, 2018
The U.S. Latino elderly population is expected to balloon in the coming years, and with the wave will come more Hispanic nursing home residents. Hispanics, however, have strong reservations about using...
Therapy relief, but also plenty of provider concerns with newly published CMS payment rule
By
Marty Stempniak
Jul 30, 2018
The federal government is delivering relief to therapy providers from a burdensome and long-running rule, but also causing concern for skilled care providers
In ongoing virtual-visit crusade, new legislation paves the way for telemedicine in skilled nursing
By
Marty Stempniak
Jul 27, 2018
The latest effort to promote telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries gained traction Wednesday with the introduction of a telemedicine bill specific to skilled nursing facilities.